Oiler for wheels



No..62|,850. Patented Mar. 28, i899. J. R. ROBINSON.

mLEn Fon WHEELS.

(Application led May 11, 1898.) (No Model.)

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llnrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES R. ROBINSON, OF MON ONGAHELA CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ILER FOR WHEELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 621,850, dated March 28, 1899.

Application filed May 11, 1898. Serial No. 680,379. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES R. ROBINSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Monongahela City, in the county of Washington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Oiler for Oar-Wheels, Loose4 Pulleys, &c. of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to oiling devices for car-wheels, loose pulleys, and other mechanical contrivances adapted to run loosely on their shafts and which require t0 be lubricated; and the object of the invention is to provide a simple device which may be easily and quickly applied to the structure which it is desired to lubricate, which will effectually retain the oil within the chamber of the wheel or pulley against any tendency to be spilled outward by centrifugal force when the pulley is in motion, and which provides for the introduction of the lubricant to the oil# chamber in an easy and expeditious manner.

lVith these ends in view my invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

To enable others to understand the invention, I have illustrated the saine in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is an elevation looking at one side of a mining-car wheel to which my improved oiler is applied. Fig. 2 is avertical sectional elevation taken transversely through the wheel and the oiling device, the plane of section being indicated by the dotted line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. .3 is an enlarged view in elevation of the oiling device detached from the 'car-wheel or loose pulley to which it may be applied. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the oiling device, looking at the face of the closure-plug thereof. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through the oiling device on the plane indicated by the dotted line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Like numerals of reference denote like and corresponding parts in each of the several iigures of the drawings.

The oiling device of my invention is designated in its entirety by the numeral l in the accompanying drawings. One of the principal parts of this oiling device is a tubular s hell or body 2, which constitute a valvecasin'g that serves to normally close the inlet-port to the oiler device, and the outer end of said tubular shell, body, or lvalve-casing 2 is enlarged to form a plug 3, which is adapted to be screwed into a threaded opening in the car-wheel, pulley, or other device to which the oiler is to be applied, so that said plug of the tubular shell or valve-casing serves to close the opening provided in the oil-chamber for the reception of the Oiler device. This enlarged end or plug is of greater diameter than the tubular shell or valve-casing, and it is made integral therewith, thus simplifying the construction and facilitating the manufacture of this device. `The plug-shaped end 3 of the oilin g device is provided with an external thread 4 of the variety known to the art as a pipethread,and in the exposed face of this plug 3 is formed a cavity 5, into which may be thrust the spout of an oil-can when it is desired to replenish the supply of lubricant to the oil-chamber ofy the' car-wheel or other structure. The inner part of the cavity 5 in the plug of the tubular shell is contracted in diameter by the formation of a liange G, and the inner face of this flange is shaped or fashioned to form a valve-seat at one end of the chamber in the tubular body or valvecasing 2. An inlet or lling port 8 is formed by this flange G, which port lies in axial relation to the tubular shell, and said portopens into the valve-casing or body through the valve-seat 7, which is formed by the said iiange 6. At the inner or rear end of the shell or casing 2 is formed an external screwthread 9, and against the open inner end of the shell or casing is applied an imperforate cap 10. This cap is formed with an annular internally-threaded lian ge ll,which is screwed upon the externally-threaded end 9 of ,the shell or casing, and said flanged cap is thus adapted to lie concentric with the enlarged threaded plug 3 of the shell or casing, so that the oiling device in its entirety may be readily introduced into or withdrawn from the oilchamber of a car-wheel, pulley, or other contrivance. The imperforate cap is of a diameter corresponding to the enlarged plug-shaped end 0f the casing or shell, and it forms a seat against which one of a coiled spring is adapted to bear or press.

Tithin the chamber of the tubular shell or casing is loosely fitted a cup-shaped metallic valve 12, which is preferably semispherical in form and of a diameter to play freely in the valve-casing in an endwise direction therein, and the convex imperforate face of this cup'- shaped valve is adapted to fit snugly against the annular valve-seat 7 between the chamber of the shell and the cavity 5 in the plug 3. The concave side of this cup-shaped valve faces toward the fixed cap l0, which is secured to the rear end of said shell, and between said valve and the cap is arranged a coiled pressure-spring 12. One end of this spring is housed and seated within the cupshaped valve to be held in place thereby, so as to maintain the spring normally in an active position to press the valve firmly against the seat, and thereby close the filling-port 8 against the passage and leakage of the lubricant from lthe chamber of the wheel or pulley. The other end of this spring is fitted or seated against the fixed cap 10, which, it will be observed, is secured removably to the shell or casing, so that the spring and valve may be withdrawn for the purpose of replacing the parts whenever necessary. The tubular shell or casing 2 of the oiler is provided at one or more points between the enlarged vplug 3 and the fixed removable cap l0 with one or more radial exit-ports l3,\vhich establish communication between the tubular shell of the insertible oiling device and the lubricatingchamber of the wheel or pulley.

My oiling device may be used generally in the arts-as, for instance, in connection with a car-Wheel, a pulley, or any other mechanical contrivance adapted to rotate on the shaft or axle and which requires lubrication for its free running thereon in order to reduce the friction and wear to a minimum. As an eX- emplification of. the invention I have illustrated it as applied to a ear-wheel by Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, in which the numeral 14 indicates the wheel, 15 the hub thereof, 16 an oil-chamber in close relation to the hub, and 17 a port or channel which leads from the oil-chamber to the journal or axle opening of the hub. The oil-chamber 16 may consist of a single continuous chamber extending entirely around the hub, or said oil-charnber may be divided into two or more compartments adapted to communicate one with the other or to communicateindividually with the shaft or axle opening in said hub. In Fig. 1 this oil-chamber is shown as consisting of two compartments, in one of which is provided a threaded opening 18, into Which may be screwed the threaded plug 3 of the tubular shell or casing forminga part of the oiler device, While the other oil-chamber is adapted to be closed by a suitable plug. It Will be understood, however, that the oil chamber or chambers are not a material part of the present improvement, which resides in the in-` sertible oiler device that is peculiarly constructed for expeditious application to the wheel or pulley.

In my invention the parts are scparably coupled together to facilitate their assemblage and disconnection. The tubular shell or casing, which is open at its rear end, enables the eu p shaped valve to be readily placed therein for its convex face to rest against the valve-seat, and the coiled spring may then be fitted in said easing or shell for one end of the spring to enter the cavity in said valve, which serves to retain the spring in proper central relation to the valve, and, finally, the imperforate cap is screwed to the threaded rear end of' the body or casing in order to hold vthe spring in place and to compress the spring sufficiently for holding the valve firmly against its seat at the open end of the casing. As the imperforate cap 10 lies flush with the threaded enlarged plug of the casing or shell, the oiler device after its parts shall have been assembled may readily be thrust through the opening 1S and into the lubricating-chamber of the Wheel or pulley, and by turning the casin g or shell the threaded enlarged plug 3 may be screwed into the opening 18 for the purpose of securely holding the oiler device in position within the chamber. The spring serves to tightly hold the -cupshaped valve against the seat at the open end of the casing, so that the lubricant is effectually retained Within the chamber against any tendency to fly outwardly and escape under the centrifugal force developed by rotation of the wheel or pulley; but the spout of an oilcan may readily be introduced through the cavity 5 of the plug to press the valve inwardly and permit the lubricant to be supplied to the chamber of the tubular body, from whence the oil is free to pass through the radial ports 13 into the oil-chamber 1G, thus enabling the supply of lubricant in the chamber 1G to be easily and quickly replenished.

A further advantage of my improved construction resides in the arrangement of the spring and valve to make the cup-shaped valve embrace the spring for a portion of its length, so that the spring serves-the purpose of a stem and normally forces the valve toits seat. A separate guide-stem and a boss for said stem are dispensed With in my invention, and the valve and the spring are mutu ally adapted to each other to hold themselves in properalinement.

and this convex valve-face serves as a defiector to direct the oil from the oil-cup into the valve-shell.

I do not strictly confine myself to the employment of a metallic cup-shaped valve, as

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rlhe valve is arranged to present its convex face to the filling-pera,

It Will be understood that changes in the l form and proportion of parts may be made by a skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim isl. In an insertible oiler device, the combination with a valveshell having a tilling-port and a seat, of a stemless cup-shaped valve snugly fitted in the shell to present a convex deiiector-face tothe seat, a cap at the opposite end of said shell, and a coiled spring having one end embraced by the chambered cupsliaped valve and its other end seated against the cap7 said valve and spring being arranged mutually to retain each other in place and the spring serving as a guide-stem for the valve substantially as described.

2. An insertble oiler device comprising a shell having at one end a threaded plug Aformed With a cavity and with an internal Iiange constituting a valve-seat and a fillingport, a cup-shaped valve iitted snugly Within the shell totravel across lateral ports therein and arranged for its convex face to bear firmly against the valve-seat, a coiled spring coniined at one end Within the cup-shaped valve Ato insure connection of the parts, and a cap 

